Outdated personnel laws, regulations and HR systems and practices combined with a growing need for IT talent, increasing retirement eligibility in the IT workforce, and insufficient talent pipelines imperil the ability of government agencies to fulfill their missions, the Partnership for Public Service has said.
It said these challenges require immediate and thoughtful attention to the recruitment, hiring and retention of talented IT professionals.
According to an issue brief released by the Partnership, the federal IT workforce has increased 57 percent since 2002 – from 46,000 to about 72,000 today.
Despite that increase, a huge skills gap remains. Over 11,500 mission-critical jobs will need to be filled in the next three years, about 16 percent of the total IT workforce.
Further, as of 2009, over 9,800 professionals in mission-critical IT positions were eligible for retirement, with nearly 16,500 by 2012.
More than 20 percent of IT managers government-wide are projected to retire by 2015 while others will transfer to the private sector.
The report calls on agencies to capture trends and analyze data to continuously improve their recruitment and retention efforts, as well as to market federal jobs by profession in such a way that elevates the federal government as a brand.
Agencies also must develop robust on-boarding programs for new employees and identify financial and other incentives to retain them, said PPS.
